1876.] V. A. Smith — Popular Songs of the Hamirpur Distriet. No. II. 281 



The Kol's Song (No. VI) was obtained from a solitary old Kol 

 labourer who has been residing for some years past in Mauza' Bakcha Chhani 

 in Parganah Maudha. The village traditions show that long ago the 

 Kols shared along with Gonds, Bhils, Bhars, and other aboriginal tribes 

 much of the soil of the Hamirpur district, from among the permanent in- 

 habitants of which they have now entirely disappeared, though considerable 

 numbers of the tribe still exist in the hilly parts of the adjoining Banda 

 district. 



The Kol's song appears to me to be one of the most interesting in my 

 collection, and the distinct expression which it gives to the feeling of de* 

 fiance and distrust with which the savage regards the civilized man, is very 

 remarkable. The language of the song is unusually Sanskritised, but its 

 general meaning would be intelligible to any rustic. Probably in spite of 

 his antipathy to "the men who abide in towns and villages", the Kol 

 composer felt his dignity enhanced by a display of his command over the 

 fine words of the race which he despised. 



The song of the Nats, (No. VII) who seem to be much the same in 

 this district as elsewhere, calls for no special explanation. Other wandering 

 tribes, specimens of whose songs I possess, are the Beriyas, Kapariyas or 

 Kapar-Mangtas, and the Khunkhuniyas or Ahir-Mangtas. 



The *Lodhis' Song (No. X) is a faithful picture of the mode of life 

 of the members of the Lodhi caste, a most important element in the popu- 

 lation of the Hamirpur district, especially in the Parganahs of Bath, Panwa- 

 ri, and Jalalpur. The Lodhis or Lodhas ( == Sanskrit LuodhaJca) may 

 perhaps be the representatives of a non- Aryan tribe : so far as I have yet 

 ascertained, it appears that they entered the Hamirpur district from the 

 west, and settled in a few villages, from which they colonized numerous 

 others, gradually expelling by force of arms the Bhars and other earlier 

 inhabitants. A curious bronze plate inscription which I lately obtained, 

 records a victory of the Lodhis over the Bhars in 1404 Samvat = 1347 

 A. D. The Lodhis are excellent cultivators, and in this part of the country 

 are almost the only people who know how to utilize water for irrigation, 

 and to grow sugarcane successfully ; in all their labours they are actively 

 assisted by their women, but the description in the song must not be taken 

 as meaning that while the women work, the men are idle, for both sexes are 

 industrious. In Bath and part of Panwari, the zamindars of most of the 

 villages are Lodhis, but their women are not too proud or bashful to work 

 hard in the fields, and it is on this peculiarity that the song lays stress. 



The popular songs of Northern India do not testify to such a profound 



* According to the census of 1872 there are 58,034 Lodhis in Hamirpur district. 

 The caste is more numerous in E'ta only, where there are 73,873. See N. W. P. Gaz., 

 Vol. I, pp. 162, 208, 331. 



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